ERCC Statement on the Senate's failure to proceed on the CRA motion

June 20, 2012

ERCC Statement by Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, on the Senate's failure to proceed on the CRA motion;

Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, offered the following remarks after the Senate failed to proceed to a vote on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) petition to force EPA to reconsider recent power sector rules.46 Senators voted against the current EPA rule.ERCC is a group of energy companies that support responsible and effective use of coal-powered electricity for the benefit of consumers and businesses across the nation:

"Despite substantial, vigorous and bipartisan opposition to the current EPA rule, the Senate failed to ask the Agency to reconsider its approach to regulating the power sector.Once again, supporters of the EPA power-sector rules mischaracterized the rule and its alleged benefits.The rule does not appreciably protect public health, but it will result in substantial job losses, increased electric rates, and reduced reliability.The cost of the rule is so high that its negative impact on the economy is likely to present an actual threat to public health.

Hopefully, given that almost half of the US Senate did in fact reject EPA's approach, we can move on to consideration of a more sensible implementation schedule and some changes to the rule.The current rule as drafted is neither compelled by court action nor by Congressional direction. Although the underlying statute dates back for decades, this rule is a combination of purely discretionary decisions made by the current EPA.The responsibility now lies with them to address the many complaints voiced across the nation regarding the reach of the rule, and to produce a rule that better reflects the careful balance that was envisioned within the Clean Air Act."